Jane Stevenson

Jane Stevenson Alexander

Jane Stevenson Alexander, wife of John Alexander, was born

soon after the signing of the Declaration of Independence of the

United States. Her parents, Alexander Stevenson and Margaret

Graham Stevenson, married in Virginia about 1762.

Someone continued keeping a family record even after

Alexander and Margaret Stevenson were dead. The Stevensons

lived in South Carolina when Jane and John Alexander married.

The following list of Stevenson children was included in a

letter dated September 2, 1837, from Sarah Stevenson Patterson

of Illinois to her sister Jane, living in Arkansas: Eleanor Stevenson

b. September 15, 1764; Mary Stevenson b. September 29,

1766; Elizabeth Stevenson b. March 27, 1768; John Stevenson b.

June 15, 1770; Sarah Stevenson b. August 18, 1772; James

G. Stevenson born July 14, 1774; Margaret Stevenson b. December

12, 1776; Jane Stevenson b. April 28, 1779; Mary Stevenson

b. July 6, 1781; Samuel Stevenson b. October 12, 1785.

The first child of Jane and John Alexander was born while

they lived in South Carolina. The next child was born in Georgia,

then back to North Carolina for the birth of the first son.

They probably stayed there a few years, then went through Tennessee

and Kentucky to spend several years in northeastern

Arkansas, where they found other Stevensons located.

The last child of Jane and John Alexander was born in

Lovely's Purchase in 1823. In this new country, people had to

know how to do their own work. With the help of the children,

Jane made clothes and bedding from skins of wild animals.

Children at play would load the hides with the younger ones

riding and pull the hides over the ground until the hides were

soft as cloth.

Water was carried from the springs for household use. The

cool water coming from rocky crevices served to keep food supplies

cool. Once, a bear cub was trying to get to that food when

captured by the children and made into a pet.

The daughter Jane Alexander was married to W. C Sparks

and was living near Nacogdoches, Texas, when her mother Jane

Stevenson Alexander rode horseback to visit her. Years later it

was reported by the Armstrong family in Texas that Grandma

"sat her horse like a young woman" on this ride from Arkansas.

The last days of Jane Stevenson Alexander were spent with

her

In the 1870 census of Washington

County, Arkansas, Jane was listed in this Baker household.

Jane Stevenson Alexander died February 18, 1873. She was

buried beside her husband fohn Alexander in Black Oak

Cemetery near their Arkansas homeplace.

Their eleven children were: Sarah Alexander b. in South Carolina, October 12, 1798;

Abigail Alexander b. in Georgia, September 14, 1801; Samuel

Stevenson Alexander b. in North Carolina, August 23, 1804;

Jane Alexander b. January 28, 1807; Tempa Alexander b. May

18, 1809; Menerva Alexander b. June 26, 1813; Narcissa

Alexander b. northeast Arkansas, September 26, 1815; Fannie

Alexander b. northeast Arkansas, October 26, 1817; John

M. Alexander, Jr. b. northeast Arkansas, November 6, 1819;

Polly (Mary) Alexander b. northeast Arkansas, November 15/20,

1821; William Long Alexander b. Lovely County, Arkansas,

November 15, 1823.

By: Gladys D. Alexander